Volunteers Dismiss Vinson

Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin had a brutal birthday message Thursday for junior defensive back Brent Vinson; he had been dismissed from the team.

"We wish him the best of luck," Kiffin said.

There was no explanation given by Tennessee for the dismissal of the former Phoebus High standout.

Vinson, 23, seemed to put his troubled past behind him this season. Considered one of the best natural athletes on the team, Vinson had no public transgressions under Kiffin's regime.

The closest call came in May when Vinson was questioned by police in connection with a shooting at a South Knoxville apartment complex.

The Knoxville Police Department later called Vinson "just a witness." Former Tennessee basketball player Ramar Smith was later arrested for the shooting.

Vinson's academic performance became a story in early January. The News Sentinel reported that Vinson had resolved an academic issue and remained enrolled at Tennessee after a report earlier in the week by TV station WBIR that Vinson had been dismissed from the team.

Vinson's play, however, didn't match his improved public persona. In his lone start this season, against Ohio, Vinson looked like a different player than the one who garnered freshman All-SEC honors in 2007. Kiffin would later say it appeared as if Ohio was targeting the cornerback.

Vinson drew the ire of former Tennessee defensive backs coach Larry Slade, who also grew up in Hampton, a year before. After playing in 14 games as a freshman, Vinson played in only eight as a sophomore in 2008.

Vinson played in nine games in 2009, in which he had 11 tackles, one interception, two passes broken up and a quarterback hurry.